Display panel, method for manufacturing same, and display device

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a display panel, a method for manufacturing a display panel, and a display device. The display panel comprises a display area and a bending area connected to the display area and bent toward a back surface of the display area. The bending area comprises a first bending area and a second bending area comprising a chip-on-film and a flexible printed circuit board. The method for manufacturing a display panel comprises a step of providing the display panel and a step of bending.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a display technology field, and inparticular, to a display panel, a method for manufacturing the displaypanel, and a display device.

BACKGROUND

Due to the advantages of being light, thin, bendabable, and foldable,OLED displays can be used in flexible display products, such as foldablemobile phones, smart watches, and in-vehicle display devices.

As shown in FIG. 1 which is a schematic diagram illustrating a foldabledisplay module in a flattened state in prior art, the foldable displaymodule comprises a display area 100 and a bending area 200. The bendingarea 200 comprises a chip-on-film and a flexible printed circuit board.In the foldable display module, at present, display panels need toreserve a wide border, leading to foldable display products with a wideborder after assembled with a cover window, which affects user viewingexperience.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure aims at solving the technical problem of the wideborder of the display device with a wide border which affecting userviewing experience.

To achieve the above purpose, an embodiment of the present disclosureprovides a display panel comprising a display area, a bending areaconnected to any one side of the display area and bent toward a backsurface of the display area and a chip-on-film connected to the bendingarea.

In an embodiment, the display area comprises a first side and a secondside parallel to each other, and a third side and a fourth side parallelto each other.

In an embodiment, the bending area comprises: a first bending portionbent from the first side toward the back surface of the display area, asecond bending portion bent from the second side toward the back surfaceof the display area, a third bending portion bent from the third sidetoward the back surface of the display area, and a fourth bendingportion bent from the fourth side toward the back surface of the displayarea.

In an embodiment, the chip-on-film is connected to the fourth bendingportion of the bending area.

In an embodiment, a first groove is defined in the first bendingportion, and/or a second groove is defined in the second bendingportion.

In an embodiment, a shape of the first groove can be trapezoidal,triangular, or rectangular, and/or a shape of the second groove can betrapezoidal, triangular, or rectangular.

To achieve the above purpose, an embodiment of the present disclosureprovides a display device comprising the above display panel.

To achieve the above purpose, an embodiment of the present disclosureprovides a method for manufacturing a display panel comprising a step ofproviding the display panel comprising providing the display panel and astep of bending comprising bending a side of the display panel toward aback surface of the display panel.

In an embodiment, the step of bending comprises a first step of bendingcomprising bending a first side of the display panel toward the backsurface of the display panel, a second step of bending comprisingbending a second side of the display panel toward the back surface ofthe display panel, a third step of bending comprising bending a thirdside of the display panel toward the back surface of the display panel,and a fourth step of bending comprising bending a fourth side of thedisplay panel toward the back surface of the display panel.

In an embodiment, the step of providing the display panel comprises astep of grooving comprising defining grooves in the first side and thethird side of the display panel.

The technical effect of the present disclosure is that a whole frontsurface of the display device is an active display area to achieve aborderless visual effect by bending a part of the display area to theback surface. Defining grooves in a part of the bending portions canrelieve the stress when the bending portions are bent, which improvesthe bendability of the display device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic structure diagram illustrating a display panelbefore bent in prior art.

FIG. 2 is a schematic structure diagram illustrating a display panelbefore bent according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a front view illustrating a display panel after bent accordingto the first embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a schematic structure diagram illustrating a back surface ofthe display panel after bent according to the first embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method for manufacturing a displaypanel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a step of bending according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a schematic structure diagram illustrating a display panelwith rectangular grooves according to a second embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 8 is a schematic structure diagram illustrating a display panelwith trapezoidal grooves according to the second embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a schematic structure diagram illustrating a display panelwith triangular grooves according to the second embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a schematic structure diagram illustrating a display panelwith irregularly arranged rectangular grooves according to the secondembodiment of the present disclosure.

A part of component identifications is shown as follows: display area100, bending area 200, display area 1, bending area 2, chip-on-film 3,flexible printed circuit board 4, first side 11, second side 12, thirdside 13, fourth side 14, first bending portion 21, second bendingportion 22, third bending portion 23, fourth bending portion 24, firstgroove 211, and second groove 221.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detailhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, to fullyintroduce technical content of the present disclosure to a personskilled in the art, to testify that the present disclosure can beimplemented as examples, to better clarify technical content of thepresent disclosure, to assist the person skilled in the art in easierunderstanding how to implement the present disclosure. However, thepresent disclosure can be embodied in many different forms, the scope ofthe present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments mentioned inthe text, and the description of the embodiments in the following textis not used to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

Directional terms mentioned in the present disclosure, such as up, down,front, rear, left, right, inside, outside, and side surface, onlyrepresent directions in the drawings, used to interpret and describe thepresent disclosure and not used to limit the protection scope of thepresent disclosure.

In the accompanying drawings, elements with identical structure aremarked with the same reference numerals for convenient understanding anddescription. The dimension and thickness of each of the elements in theaccompanying drawings are arbitrarily shown, and the present disclosuredoes not define the dimension and thickness of each of the elements.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being onanother element, it can be directly on the other element, or there maybe an intermediate element on which the element is placed, and theintermediate element is placed on the other element. When an element isreferred to as being mounted to or connected to another element, eitherone can be understood as being directly mounted or connected, or via anintermediate element to be indirectly mounted to or connected to theother element.

The First Embodiment

The embodiment provides a display device. The display device comprises adisplay panel as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4. The display panel comprises adisplay area 1, a bending area 2, a chip-on-film 3, and a flexibleprinted circuit board 4.

FIG. 2 is a schematic structure diagram illustrating the display panelbefore bent, FIG. 3 is a front view illustrating the display panel afterbent, and FIG. 4 is a schematic structure diagram illustrating a backsurface of the display panel after bent.

The display area 1 comprises a first side 11, a third side 13, a secondside 12, and a fourth side 14 connected in a head-to-tail manner andarranged clockwise in the embodiment. The first side 11 and the secondside 12 are parallel, and the third side 13 and the fourth side 14 areparallel.

The bending area 2 comprises a first bending portion 21, a secondbending portion 22, a third bending portion 23, and a fourth bendingportion 24.

The first bending portion 21 is bent from the first side 11 toward aback surface of the display area 1, the second bending portion 22 isbent from the second side 12 toward the back surface of the display area1, the third bending portion 23 is bent from the third side 13 towardthe back surface of the display area 1, and the fourth bending portion24 is bent from the fourth side 14 toward the back surface of thedisplay area 1.

A length of the first bending portion 21 is same as a length of thedisplay area 1, a length of the second bending portion 22 is same as thelength of the display area 1, a length of the third bending portion 23is same as a width of the display area 1, and a length of the fourthbending portion 24 is same as the width of the display area 1.

The display area 1 after bent is an active display area. A part of thedisplay area is bent to the back surface so that a border of the displayarea is also bent to the back surface, leading to a borderless frontsurface of the display device, achieving a borderless visual effect,improving the screen ratio of the display device, and further improvingusers' viewing experience.

Smaller widths of the bending portions are better. In the embodiment,the width of the first bending portion 21 is 0.3 mm to 1 mm, the widthof the second bending portion 22 is 0.3 mm to 1 mm, the width of thethird bending portion 23 is 0.3 mm to 1 mm, and the width of the fourthbending portion 24 is 0.3 mm to 1 mm.

By adjusting a pixel driving current to zero, any one of the bendingportions displays black, that is, the bending portion bent to the backsurface of the display area 1 does not display.

During the bending process, a part of any one of the bending portionshas a curved surface with a radius of 1.5 mm. The curved surface can beused to display and the display device is commensurate with a displaydevice having a curved screen, such as the existing mobile phone with acurved screen.

The chip-on-film 3 is connected to the fourth bending portion 24. Theflexible printed circuit board 4 is disposed on the chip-on-film 3, andthe chip-on-film 3 and the flexible printed circuit board 4 are benttogether to the back surface of the display area 1 when the fourthbending portion 24 is bent.

A cover window covers the display area 1. The cover window withoutprinting ink is used to improve the overall strength of the displaydevice to make it easier for the display panel to adhere to othercomponents of the display device. The cover window has no visible area(VA) in prior art, leading to the borderless front surface of thedisplay device, achieving a borderless visual effect, improving thescreen ratio of the display device, and further improving users' viewingexperience.

The technical effect of the display device in the embodiment is that awhole front surface of the display device is the active display area toachieve a borderless visual effect by bending a part of the display areato the back surface.

As shown in FIG. 5, an embodiment further provides a method formanufacturing a display panel comprising steps S1 to S2.

The step S1 is a step of providing the display panel comprisingproviding the display panel. The display panel comprises a first side, athird side, a second side, and a fourth side connected in a head-to-tailmanner. The fourth side is connected to the chip-on-film and theflexible printed circuit board. The display panel is an irregular-shapedstructure and a protruding portion is disposed at any one of the sides.Wherein lengths of a first protruding portion at the first side and thefirst side are same, lengths of a second protruding portion at thesecond side and the second side are same, lengths of a third protrudingportion at the third side and the third side are same, and lengths of afourth protruding portion at the fourth side and the fourth side aresame.

The step S2 is a step of bending comprising bending the protrudingportion to form the bending area.

As shown in FIG. 6, the step of bending comprises steps S21 to S24.

The step S21 is a first step of bending comprising bending the firstprotruding portion of the display panel to fix the first protrudingportion to a back portion of the display panel to form a first bendingportion.

The step S22 is a second step of bending comprising bending the secondprotruding portion of the display panel to fix the second protrudingportion to the back portion of the display panel to form a secondbending portion.

The step S23 is a third step of bending comprising bending the thirdprotruding portion of the display panel to fix the third protrudingportion to the back portion of the display panel to form a third bendingportion.

The step S24 is a first step of bending comprising bending the fourthprotruding portion of the display panel to fix the fourth protrudingportion to the back portion of the display panel to form a fourthbending portion. Meanwhile, the chip-on-film and the flexible printedcircuit board disposed on the fourth bending portion are bent to theback surface of the display panel. At this time, the display panel notbent is the display area and is used to display.

By adjusting a pixel driving current to zero, any one of the bendingportions behind the back surface displays black, that is, the bendingportion behind the back surface does not display.

A cover window covers the display area 1. The cover window withoutprinting ink is used to improve the overall strength of the displaydevice to make it easier for the display panel to adhere to othercomponents of the display device. The cover window has no visible area(VA) in prior art, leading to the borderless front surface of thedisplay device, achieving a borderless visual effect, improving thescreen ratio of the display device, and further improving users' viewingexperience.

The technical effect of the method for manufacturing a display panel inthe embodiment is that a whole front surface of the display device isthe active display area to achieve a borderless visual effect by bendinga part of the display area to the back surface.

The Second Embodiment

The embodiment provides a display device. The display device comprises adisplay panel as shown in FIG. 7. The display panel comprises a displayarea 1, a bending area 2, a chip-on-film 3, and a flexible printedcircuit board 4.

The display area 1 comprises a first side 11, a third side 13, a secondside 12, and a fourth side 14 connected in a head-to-tail manner andarranged clockwise in the embodiment. The first side 11 and the secondside 12 are parallel, and the third side 13 and the fourth side 14 areparallel.

The bending area 2 comprises a first bending portion 21, a secondbending portion 22, a third bending portion 23, and a fourth bendingportion 24.

The first bending portion 21 is bent from the first side 11 toward aback surface of the display area 1, the second bending portion 22 isbent from the second side 12 toward the back surface of the display area1, the third bending portion 23 is bent from the third side 13 towardthe back surface of the display area 1, and the fourth bending portion24 is bent from the fourth side 14 toward the back surface of thedisplay area 1.

A length of the first bending portion 21 is same as a length of thedisplay area 1, a length of the second bending portion 22 is same as thelength of the display area 1, a length of the third bending portion 23is same as a width of the display area 1, and a length of the fourthbending portion 24 is same as the width of the display area 1.

First grooves 211 are defined in the first bending portion 21. Shapes ofthe first grooves 211 are not limited, and are preferably regularlyarranged rectangular in the embodiment. Defining the first grooves 211can relieve the stress when the first bending portion 21 is bent,preventing appearance of breakage and improving the bendability of thedisplay device.

Second grooves 221 are defined in the second bending portion 22. Shapesof the second grooves 221 are not limited, and are preferably regularlyarranged rectangular in the embodiment. Defining the second grooves 221can relieve the stress when the second bending portion 22 is bent,preventing appearance of breakage and improving the bendability of thedisplay device.

In another embodiments, shapes of the grooves can be trapezoidal (asshown in FIG. 8), triangular (as shown in FIG. 9) or irregularlyarranged rectangular (as shown in FIG. 10). Different shapes of thegrooves result in different shapes of edges of the display area.

The display area 1 after bent is an active display area. A part of thedisplay area is bent to the back surface so that a border of the displayarea is also bent to the back surface, leading to a borderless frontsurface of the display device, achieving a borderless visual effect,improving the screen ratio of the display device, and further improvingusers' viewing experience.

Smaller widths of the bending portions are better. In the embodiment,the width of the first bending portion 21 is 0.3 mm to 1 mm, the widthof the second bending portion 22 is 0.3 mm to 1 mm, the width of thethird bending portion 23 is 0.3 mm to 1 mm, and the width of the fourthbending portion 24 is 0.3 mm to 1 mm.

By adjusting a pixel driving current to zero, any one of the bendingportions displays black, that is, the bending portion bent to the backsurface of the display area 1 does not display.

During the bending process, a part of any one of the bending portionshas a curved surface with a radius of 1.5 mm. The curved surface can beused to display and the display device is commensurate with a displaydevice having a curved screen, such as the existing mobile phone with acurved screen.

The chip-on-film 3 is connected to the fourth bending portion 24. Theflexible printed circuit board 4 is disposed on the chip-on-film 3, andthe chip-on-film 3 and the flexible printed circuit board 4 are benttogether to the back surface of the display area 1 when the fourthbending portion 24 is bent.

A cover window covers the display area 1. The cover window withoutprinting ink is used to improve the overall strength of the displaydevice to make it easier for the display panel to adhere to othercomponents of the display device. The cover window has no visible area(VA) in prior art, leading to the borderless front surface of thedisplay device, achieving a borderless visual effect, improving thescreen ratio of the display device, and further improving users' viewingexperience.

The technical effect of the display device in the embodiment is that awhole front surface of the display device is the active display area toachieve a borderless visual effect by bending a part of the display areato the back surface. Defining grooves in a part of the bending portionscan relieve the stress when the bending portions are bent and canimprove the bendability of the display device.

As shown in FIG. 5, an embodiment further provides a method formanufacturing a display panel comprising steps S1 to S2.

The step S1 is a step of providing the display panel comprisingproviding the display panel. The display panel comprises a first side, athird side, a second side, and a fourth side connected in a head-to-tailmanner. The fourth side is connected to the chip-on-film and theflexible printed circuit board.

The display panel is an irregular-shaped structure and a protrudingportion is disposed at any one of the sides. Wherein lengths of a firstprotruding portion at the first side and the first side are same,lengths of a second protruding portion at the second side and the secondside are same, lengths of a third protruding portion at the third sideand the third side are same, and lengths of a fourth protruding portionat the fourth side and the fourth side are same.

The step of providing the display panel further comprises a step ofgrooving. By the step of grooving, a first groove is defined in thefirst protruding portion of the display panel and a second groove isdefined in the second protruding portion of the display panel. A shapeof the first groove can be regularly shaped rectangular, trapezoidal,triangular, or irregularly shaped rectangular, and a shape of the secondgroove can be regularly arranged rectangular, trapezoidal, triangular,and irregularly shaped rectangular.

The step S2 is a step of bending comprising bending the protrudingportion to form the bending area.

As shown in FIG. 6, the step of bending comprises steps S21 to S24.

The step S21 is a first step of bending comprising bending the firstprotruding portion of the display panel to fix the first protrudingportion to a back portion of the display panel to form a first bendingportion.

The step S22 is a second step of bending comprising bending the secondprotruding portion of the display panel to fix the second protrudingportion to the back portion of the display panel to form a secondbending portion.

The step S23 is a third step of bending comprising bending the thirdprotruding portion of the display panel to fix the third protrudingportion to the back portion of the display panel to form a third bendingportion.

The step S24 is a first step of bending comprising bending the fourthprotruding portion of the display panel to fix the fourth protrudingportion to the back portion of the display panel to form a fourthbending portion. Meanwhile, the chip-on-film and the flexible printedcircuit board disposed on the fourth bending portion are bent to theback surface of the display panel. At this time, the display panel notbent is the display area and is used to display.

By adjusting a pixel driving current to zero, any one of the bendingportions behind the back surface displays black, that is, the bendingportion behind the back surface does not display.

A cover window covers the display area 1. The cover window withoutprinting ink is used to improve the overall strength of the displaydevice to make it easier for the display panel to adhere to othercomponents of the display device. The cover window has no visible area(VA) in prior art, leading to the borderless front surface of thedisplay device, achieving a borderless visual effect, improving thescreen ratio of the display device and further improving user viewingexperience.

The technical effect of the method for manufacturing a display panel inthe embodiment is that a whole front surface of the display device isthe active display area to achieve a borderless visual effect by bendinga part of the display area to the back surface. Defining grooves in apart of the bending portions can relieve the stress when the bendingportions are bent and can improve the bendability of the display device.

The descriptions above are just embodiments of the present disclosure.It should be pointed out that, to the general technical personnel in theart, not out of the premise of principle of the present disclosure, someimprovement and decoration can be done, these improvements anddecoration should also be in the protection scope of the presentdisclosure.

1. A display panel comprising: a display area; a bending area connectedto any one side of the display area and bent toward a back surface ofthe display area; and a chip-on-film connected to the bending area. 2.The display panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the display areacomprises: a first side and a second side parallel to each other; and athird side and a fourth side parallel to each other.
 3. The displaypanel as claimed in claim 2, wherein the bending area comprises: a firstbending portion bent from the first side toward the back surface of thedisplay area; a second bending portion bent from the second side towardthe back surface of the display area; a third bending portion bent fromthe third side toward the back surface of the display area; and a fourthbending portion bent from the fourth side toward the back surface of thedisplay area.
 4. The display panel as claimed in claim 3, wherein thechip-on-film is connected to the fourth bending portion of the bendingarea.
 5. The display panel as claimed in claim 3, wherein a first grooveis defined in the first bending portion, and/or a second groove isdefined in the second bending portion.
 6. The display panel as claimedin claim 4, wherein a shape of the first groove can be trapezoidal,triangular, or rectangular, and/or a shape of the second groove can betrapezoidal, triangular, or rectangular.
 7. A display device comprisinga display panel, wherein the display panel comprises: a display area; abending area connected to any one side of the display area and benttoward a back surface of the display area; and a chip-on-film connectedto the bending area.
 8. A method for manufacturing a display panel,wherein the display panel comprises a display area and a bending areaconnected to any one side of the display area, the method comprises: astep of providing the display panel comprising providing the displaypanel; and a step of bending comprising bending the side of the displaypanel toward a back surface of the display panel.
 9. The method formanufacturing the display panel as claimed in claim 8, wherein thedisplay area comprises a first side and a second side parallel to eachother and a third side and a fourth side parallel to each other, thestep of bending comprises: a first step of bending comprising bendingthe first side of the display panel toward the back surface of thedisplay panel; a second step of bending comprising bending the secondside of the display panel toward the back surface of the display panel;a third step of bending comprising bending the third side of the displaypanel toward the back surface of the display panel; and a fourth step ofbending comprising bending the fourth side of the display panel towardthe back surface of the display panel.
 10. The method for manufacturingthe display panel as claimed in claim 9, wherein the step of providingthe display panel comprises a step of grooving comprising defininggrooves in the first side and the third side of the display panel. 11.The display device as claimed in claim 7, wherein the display areacomprises: a first side and a second side parallel to each other; and athird side and a fourth side parallel to each other; wherein the firstside is connected between the third side and the fourth side and thesecond side is connected between the third side and the fourth side. 12.The display device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the bending areacomprises: a first bending portion bent from the first side toward theback surface of the display area; a second bending portion bent from thesecond side toward the back surface of the display area; a third bendingportion bent from the third side toward the back surface of the displayarea; and a fourth bending portion bent from the fourth side toward theback surface of the display area.
 13. The display device as claimed inclaim 12, wherein the chip-on-film is connected to the fourth bendingportion of the bending area.
 14. The display device as claimed in claim12, wherein a first groove is defined in the first bending portion,and/or a second groove is defined in the second bending portion.
 15. Thedisplay device as claimed in claim 13, wherein a shape of the firstgroove can be trapezoidal, triangular or rectangular, and/or a shape ofthe second groove can be trapezoidal, triangular, or rectangular. 16.The method for manufacturing the display panel as claimed in claim 10,wherein each of shapes of the grooves can be trapezoidal, triangular, orrectangular.